December 17, 1891] 



NATURE 



149 



book, corresponding as it does to the first of the two 

 German volumes, omits the ancient religions of Persia, 

 Greece, Rome, and Germany,as well as Mohammedanism. 

 Without these we have nothing that can fairly be called 

 by the name borne on the title of the translation ; and 

 the omission of Persia in particular makes the book most 

 tantalizingly imperfect as regards a single connected 

 group of faiths. It is not fair either to the author or to 

 his readers to give a part of the work as if it were a 

 whole, and to set it forth to the world without even 

 putting " vol. i." on the title-page. 



The work of translation has been performed with care, 

 and generally, so far as we have been able to test it, with 

 accuracy. But the book is rather heavy reading, as 

 translations from the German are apt to be, when the 

 translator has not realized that the difference between 

 the idioms of England and Germany is so great that a 

 successful version must recast whole sentences instead 

 of aiming at a literal reproduction of words and clauses. 



As regards the substance of the book, the reception 

 which it has obtained, in its German form, is a sufficient 

 proof that Prof, de la Saussaye has met a felt want in the 

 literature of his subject.. A book that covers so wide a 

 field cannot be without errors in detail. No man can 

 know at first hand all the ancient literatures that are 

 dealt with ; nor can it be supposed that, on matters 

 where specialists are often at variance, one who is not a 

 specialist can always hit the mark. The general prin- 

 ciples of the science of religion are not yet worked out 

 with sufficient clearness to give the student of religions in 

 general sure points of view for the criticism of the diver- 

 gent results that have been reached by students of special 

 religious literatures. Perhaps to say this is to say by 

 implication that a general manual of the subject is an 

 undertaking for which the time is not yet ripe ; and cer- 

 tainly the science of religion (as distinct from the scien- 

 tific study of individual religions in their historical 

 development) is still in a very elementary stage. But 

 Prof, de la Saussaye is no dogmatist ; he frankly admits 

 the obscurity in which many fundamental problems are 

 still involved, and he writes throughout with great im- 

 partiality and moderation, as well as with extensive know- 

 ledge of recent researches. His book will be very useful 

 to all who wish to know the present state of inquiry, and 

 do not forget that many things in his exposition are to be 

 taken as still doubtful, even where the author himself 

 does not expressly accompany them with notes of 

 uncertainty. ' W. R. S. 



Euclid's Elements of Geometry. Book XI. By A. E. 

 Layng, M.A. (London : Blackie and Son, Limited, 

 1891.) 



Of all Euclid's books, the eleventh is one that forms a 

 stumbling-block to the beginner in solid geometry. Not 

 that the proofs in themselves are of a difficult nature, but 

 simply that the figures have to be drawn perspectively to 

 illustrate the various planes, and the student finds it hard 

 to bring himself to believe the equality of angles and 

 lines which appear to him to be unequal. 



The author of this book, like one or two others before 

 him, by varying the thickness of the lines used in con- 

 struction, simplifies matters very considerably, for by this 

 means the eye can distinguish directly the different planes. 

 Of the propositions themselves, little need be said, unless 

 we mention the use throughout of all the well-known 

 symbols : the occasional interpolated worked-out ex- 

 amples, and the notes and exercises, although not in any 

 great quantity, will be found very useful. In the collec- 

 tion of miscellaneous examples, theorems relating to 

 tetrahedrons, pyramids, spheres, &c., are included. Pre- 

 ceding the series] of examination-papers, which are here 

 arranged in a prxjgressive order of difficulty, and taken 

 from papers set lately, are two appendices, the first deal- 



NO. I 155, VOL. 45] 



ing with transversals, harmonic section, and pole and 

 polars, the second with a few alternate proofs of propo- 

 sitions. The manner in which most of the proofs are 

 worked out is both neat and brief, and the definitions 

 are all clearly stated and illustrated. We may add that,, 

 although the work is not the best of its kind we have 

 seen, yet it has many good points which recommend it 

 to the student of geometry. W. 



Illustrations of the Flora of Japan, to serve as an Atlas 

 to the Nippon- Shokubutsushi. By Tomitaro Makino. 

 (Tokyo, Japan : Keigyosha i, Urazimbocho, 1891.) 



This is a monthly publication, containing excellent un- 

 coloured figures of plants, with analyses of their floral 

 structure, fruit, and seed, and descriptions in English as 

 well as in Japanese. The drawing and lithography, by 

 Mr. Makino himself, are quite equal to the average work 

 in this country — indeed, one might say above the average ; 

 the lithography being light and effective, with few lines in 

 it. Moreover, the English descriptions are intelligible, 

 correct, and idiomatic, and not too long, nor superfluous. 

 Botanically and horticulturally this production of the Far 

 East will be welcome, and even indispensable, in the West^ 

 as many new species are described. Already nine parts 

 have appeared, with illustrations of fifty-seven species 

 belonging to various natural orders. No system of classi- 

 fication is followed ; whatever is of interest or novel being 

 taken as it presents itself. W. B. H. 



About Ceylon atid Borneo. By Walter J. Clutterbuck, 

 F.R.G.S. (London : Longmans, Green, and Co., 1891.) 



In this volume Mr. Clutterbuck gives some account of 

 Ceylon as he saw it during a recent visit, and as it was 

 fourteen years ago, when he resided for a short time in 

 the island. He then describes what he saw in the course 

 of a visit to Brunei and British North Borneo. Readers 

 who like books of travel will find a good deal to interest 

 them in the author's impressions, which are recorded in a 

 lively style. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



[ The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions ex- 

 pressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake 

 to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected 

 manuscripts intended for this or any other part of i^ Ps-IMV.^. 

 No notice is taken of anonymous communications. '\ 



Wind Direction. 



A SHORT time ago there was some correspondence in your 

 columns on the relations of north-east and south-west winds in 

 recent years ; Mr. Prince, of Crowborough, having observed at 

 that place that while, as a rule, the south-west winds were in 

 excess of the north-east, the reverse had occurred in each of the 

 five years 1885 to 1889. The Greenwich records were examined 

 by Mr. Ellis with regard to this point, but he found them at 

 variance with those of Crowborough, the south-west winds having 

 continued in excess of the north-east throughout those five 

 years. 



By combining several directions, the Greenwich figures, as 

 tabulated by Mr. Ellis in his paper to the Royal Meteorological 

 Society (Quart. Journ., October 1890, p. 222), will be found to 

 reveal some curious relations, which seem to invite attention. 

 I have added together the figures (numbers of days) for north- 

 east, east, and south-east winds on the one hand, and those for 

 north-west, west, and south-west on the other ; then smoothed 

 each set of sums by means of five-year averages. The results 

 are shown in the two curves of the accompanying diagram. 

 The continuous curve (a) represents north-east, east, and south- 

 east winds (and its vertical scale is at the left). The dotted line 

 curve (b) represents north-west, west, and south-west winds (and 



